Comfort
by LeahConstance
Summary: During one fateful night, Logan and Marie find comfort in each other's arms.


Title: Comfort  
  
Author: Leah  
  
E-mail: countryblue@edsamail.com.ph  
  
Summary: During one fateful night, Logan and Marie find comfort in each other's arms.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own them so please don't sue.  
  
Archive: Logan and Marie's Dolphin Haven Fanfiction.net Others: Just let me know. You know I'll say yes. :)  
  
Feedback: Yes, please. :)  
  
Author's Notes: This is my response to Karen's X2 fic challenge where Logan, Marie, Bobby and St. John escape to Bobby's house after the mansion's been attacked, and our favorite couple somehow winds up in bed together. I just gave it a different twist so it's not exactly faithful to the original plot. In this story, Marie can control her skin so she's able to touch. I didn't mention anything about it in the story so you might wonder.  
  
Special thanks to Jo for believing in me, and Karen, my beta reader extraordinaire. :)  
Comfort by Leah  
Marie tried to control her body's shaking as she sat tensely on the edge of the couch. She clasped her hands together and looked worriedly at Logan's rigid profile. He stood by the window, carefully looking out and sensing if they had been followed. Bobby and St. John leaned against the door, their chests heaving as they waited for trouble to catch up with them. Nobody dared move, their heartbeats loud in the darkness and silence of Bobby's house.  
  
Seconds turned to minutes and minutes turned to forever before Logan abandoned his post by the window and relaxed. "We're safe... for now," he said, his voice hard yet reassuring.  
  
Releasing a loud sigh of relief, Bobby's hand moved to the wall and flicked on the switch, immediately flooding the living room with light. He collapsed onto the couch beside Marie. "I can't believe this is happening," he muttered shakily as he buried his head in his hands.  
  
"What are we going to do if they follow us here?" St. John asked Logan.  
  
"They won't. They would've gotten to us by now if they had." Logan's senses were still in high gear and he was sure they were temporarily out of harm's way. "For the meantime, I suggest we get some sleep. Time enough to figure out what we're going to do in the morning."  
  
"I second that, since we're all dressed ready for bed anyway. Well, except for you, Logan," St. John said. True enough, he and Bobby were in their T- shirts and pajama bottoms while Marie was in her nightgown. Logan was in his usual jeans and wife-beater.  
  
"I'll prepare the rooms upstairs," Bobby said as he got up.  
  
St. John followed him to the stairs. "I'll help you, man. Where are your parents, anyway?"  
  
"Out of town, most probably. They usually..." Their voices drifted away.  
  
Logan locked the door and checked the windows before he noticed that Marie hadn't moved from her spot. Treading lightly across the room, he got down on one knee beside her.  
  
"Marie," he whispered. His hand tucked a stray platinum lock behind her ear before dropping to her bare shoulder and caressing it comfortingly.  
  
"I'm scared." Marie continued to stare at the floor, her body still shaking. It was happening all over again. She was fair game and she was scared down to her toes. She didn't want to go through that ordeal one more time.  
  
Letting out a soft curse, Logan sat on the couch beside her and pulled her none too gently into his arms. He knew how this could be like the time when Magneto had kidnapped her. He sensed her distress and fear. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you, do you hear?" he said against her hair. He felt her nod and embraced her tightly, his arms going around her protectively. "They won't get you. As long as I'm here, I'll keep you safe," he whispered raggedly.  
  
In a thin, shaky voice, she asked, "You promise?"  
  
"I promise," Logan vowed. It was only then that he felt her relax in his arms, her body now lying pliant against him. Her black nightgown left a lot of her skin bare and his hands passed over her arms and shoulders, warming and soothing her with his touch. He held her securely in his arms, his mouth moving against her hair as he whispered to her comfortingly.  
  
It was how Bobby and St. John found them ten minutes later. A lump formed in Bobby's throat at the tender picture they made. He knew how close Logan was to Marie's heart considering their history together, but seeing for himself how close was altogether a different matter. It was St. John who broke the silence.  
  
"Uh, guys, the guest rooms are ready upstairs," he explained. "Bobby and I are going to bunk down in his old room."  
  
Logan urged Marie gently to her feet. "You go get some rest, darlin'." To the guys, he said, "I'll sleep here on the couch. I'll be the first line of defense if anything happens."  
  
Marie followed the boys up the stairs, but not before pausing to look back and giving Logan a shy, grateful smile.  
  
***  
  
Logan couldn't sleep. His senses were too highly attuned for him to ease into oblivion. He shifted onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. Who would've thought that the mansion could be breached just like that? His mind had replayed the evening's unfortunate events a thousand times already and every time he had wished he could've done more. But for now, he had to content himself to wait. Morning would come soon enough.  
  
He tensed when a long distressed moan reached his sensitive ears. He sat up and listened. The sound came from upstairs. Marie. He got up and let his senses guide him to where she was. Her moans grew louder in his ears and he could smell her fear strongly as he reached the last door on his right. Without knocking, he opened the door and shut it behind him.  
  
The streetlight outside provided ample lighting in the dark room and Logan could see Marie's figure writhing on the bed in the midst of a nightmare. He went to the bedside table and turned on the lamp. Her legs were thrashing about and she had kicked the covers aside, the hem of her gown up around her thighs. He quickly sat on the side of the bed and shook her shoulders. "Marie. Wake up, darlin'. It's just a nightmare."  
  
But the nightmare's grip on Marie's subconscious was strong. She let out a pitiful whimper and turned her head from side to side. "No, please, don't hurt him," she begged as her hands gripped the sheets. "I'll do anything. Please...!" she cried out.  
  
Logan sat her up forcefully and in the soft yellow light saw how pale her face was. This time he shook her hard. Marie's head lolled back and forth, still crying out her entreaties. "Marie," he shouted. "Wake up now. Come on!" When she still didn't wake up, Logan pulled back his hand and smartly slapped her cheek.  
  
Her cries stopped in an instant the moment she opened her eyes. She stared vacantly into space, not seeing anything, not even Logan.  
  
"Marie?" He turned her face to him and softly caressed her red cheek. Glazed brown eyes stared back at him and her blank look made him worry. He, of all people, should know how nightmares could fool one into thinking it was reality; how the mind could be tortured and the heart tormented by images so frighteningly true even after one had woken up. He knew this because it had been like that for him. He hoped, however, that it wouldn't be the case with Marie. He tapped her cheek and this time, it garnered his expected response. She blinked sleepily up at him, his presence finally registering in her mind.  
  
Confusion passed in Marie's eyes for a moment before the memories of her nightmare came flooding in. "Oh God, Logan." She threw her arms around his neck and held on for dear life, her face buried against his shoulder. "It was so real..." she choked.  
  
Logan made soothing noises in her ear. "It's alright. Tell me about it," he urged quietly.  
  
"They got us," she told him hoarsely, her heart thundering in her chest. "They put us in a lab with a lot of wicked-looking machines and instruments. Our wrists and ankles were cuffed to the gurneys and somehow we couldn't use our mutations. Bobby wasn't moving at all and he had blood all over him. They were going to start on you next and I was pleading for them to stop. They were going to kill you. They were going to kill us..."  
  
The memory of his own nightmare, the one where adamantium was being grafted onto his bones, played in his mind and his blood went cold. No, he wouldn't be captured again, nor would Marie. "It was just a dream, Marie. I'm not going to let it become a reality."  
  
She pulled back so she could look into his face. "Who are these people, Logan? Why do they want to kill us?"  
  
Hazel eyes bored into her brown ones. "I don't have the answers, darlin', but we'll know soon enough. All I know is that they hate us enough to want to kill us."  
  
The feeling of dread came creeping back in. Her brow furrowed.  
  
Logan smoothed that furrow with his thumb. "Look, it's no use worrying yourself to death right now. Go back to sleep, okay?"  
  
He got up and was halfway towards the door when Marie whispered, "Stay with me." She didn't look at him when she told him her request for it shamed her to need him this much. Love him she did, and she could hide that behind their friendship. But her need for him--that she couldn't hide.  
  
Her whispered words stopped him in his tracks. He turned around and his heart clenched at her vulnerability. She looked like a little girl with her down bent head, her hair a silky brown curtain that hid her face. He couldn't deny her in her time of need. Never did and never would. Wordlessly, he took off his boots then turned off the lamp. He slipped beneath the covers on the other side of the bed, laid comfortably on his back, held out his arm, and waited. Logan didn't have to wait long for Marie immediately snuggled beside him, her head lodged in his under his arm. He could feel the desperation in the way she clutched his arm that rested over her chest. They stayed like that for a while, letting their bodies give and receive comfort and reassurance.  
  
For the nth time, Marie wondered at the power Logan had for settling her fears. Aside from the reassuring talks, it was his presence that made all the difference. He was big, strong, and feral. There was so much power that radiated from him. He only had to be near, to be within touching distance, to touch her and she felt safe. Sometimes it scared her how dependent she was on him. It wouldn't do to have her running to him all the time. But there were times when she just had to go to him. Times like this when her life was in mortal danger once again--only this time all their lives were in mortal danger. The attack on the mansion had shaken her, and her nightmare compounded her fear even more. He was the only one she could trust her life with. Her heart, too, only she didn't think he'd want it.  
  
She stroked his hand, tracing the veins that ran along its back. "I'm sorry," she said in a whisper.  
  
"What for?" he asked curiously.  
  
"For this. For being so weak and so scared. For always needing you. Needing your comfort."  
  
It pleased him to hear that from her. A warm feeling settled over him. It touched something primal in him to be needed on a very personal basis. Marie needed nurturing and he was more than willing to give her that. "I like it that you need me," he breathed.  
  
Inside, she melted at his admission. "I'm glad." She lifted his hand to her mouth and kissed it. "You know that I'm here if you need me, too."  
  
Logan's response to that was to kiss the top of her head.  
  
Marie turned and draped herself over him, her head and one arm on his chest and a leg over his. Her position pressed her more intimately against him. Her breasts lay crushed against his hard stomach and her gown had ridden up, exposing the length of her legs. Surrounded by his musky male scent, comforted by his touch, and lulled by the steady beat of his heart, she sighed and closed her eyes.  
  
Logan automatically anchored her to him. One arm went around her hips and the other stroked her back lazily. A part of his brain noted the intimacy of their positions, the way their bodies fit together perfectly. She felt so good to him. So soft. So feminine. So right. He realized tonight how precious she was to him and he'd do his damndest to keep her safe.  
***  
  
It only seemed like minutes ago that she had dropped off to sleep when Marie found herself awake with a start. She listened but heard no noise coming from inside or outside the house. Then she felt Logan's rapid heartbeat beneath her ear. She raised herself up and saw his face contort. His body started to jerk and an agitated moan escaped his throat.  
  
It's happening to him, too, she thought. She knew that the events in the past eight hours had probably triggered his nightmares just like what had happened to her. She sat up, straddling his thighs, and shook his shoulders. "Logan!" He didn't wake up. She called out his name repeatedly but he still wouldn't budge.  
  
Logan was going under now. He jerked his arms and legs more forcefully, making a fine film of sweat break out on his skin.  
  
Choked up by tears that threatened to fall at any moment. Marie shook him harder. She knew from previous experience that she should let him wake up on his own lest she felt the sharp edges of his claws through her chest again. But she didn't want to. She'd take that chance but she wouldn't abandon him to his nightmares.  
  
"Please wake up," she cried, tears spilling from her eyes. She couldn't stand seeing him suffer this way, reliving some obviously terrible moments in his head. It hurt her to see him hurting. She held his face and smoothed his sweat-matted hair away. "Logan, please..." Desperate to wake him up, she leaned down and dusted soft kisses all over his face, murmuring his name all the while.  
  
He woke up instantaneously, his heart thudding fast. He lay there rigidly, trying to calm himself as the images of his horrible dreams lingered in his head. It took a while for his senses to take in the touch of soft, warm lips, the sound of a desperate voice pleading for him to wake up, and the scent of a woman so familiar and vital to him.  
  
"Marie."  
  
His rough voice made her jerk back, giving him a poor view of her tear- streaked face. "Thank God you're awake," she cried as she buried her face against his throat.  
  
Logan didn't know how to react. He'd never woken up to comfort and caring before. Usually it was cold fear and sheer panic that greeted him after he'd wake up. He knew how to deal with that. He knew how to get himself back under control. He'd just push the nightmare in the back of his head and spend the rest of the hours before daylight in the gym or in the Danger Room. But waking up to Marie's caring ways was alien to him. He wasn't used to being on the receiving end of comfort and here she was giving him just that. He felt like a wealth of emotion wanted to burst out of him. He felt...vulnerable. The Wolverine never felt that. And what's scary was that he wanted to give in to that emotion.  
  
"It's just a dream, Logan. I'm here..."  
  
Hard arms went around her, binding her to him as if he would never let her go. He breathed her in, needing her to ease the panic that crowded in his chest. He wanted her to soothe his emotions and make him feel all right. He never realized how much he needed her.  
  
Marie felt the desperation in him and she didn't hesitate to give him what he needed. It may seem like she was just returning the favor for the comfort he had given her earlier, but in her heart it was more. She calmed him with more touches of her lips, traveling over his forehead, his cheeks, and his nose. "It's all right, Logan. It's--"  
  
The press of his lips on hers prevented her from saying anything more. The short, fevered kiss took her breath away. Her senses became alive and suddenly, she became conscious of the way she was pressed up against him. Her skin tingled to the point of pain. She looked into his eyes, his face just inches from her, regarding her with an intense look. Her heart started beating madly in her chest.  
  
"I need you," he whispered before pulling her head down and locking his mouth to hers.  
  
She was so surprised by his words and action that it took a moment before her brain could register the feel of his lips moving caressingly under hers. Excitement began to bloom in the pit of her stomach. He was kissing her like he did in her dreams... She gasped when she felt his tongue coax her lips to open. Powerless to ignore what his mouth was doing to her, she parted her lips and then moaned at the electricity that jolted up her spine.  
  
Logan didn't know how it happened, but his need for her quickly translated into sweet desire. He filled her with his tongue, passionately tasting and savoring her. Her mouth was hot and sweet, an exotic succulent that he found to be quite addictive. He returned to her mouth again and again like a hungry man needing sustenance. Her little whimpers ignited the fire in his blood and he deepened the kiss until a groan tore out of his throat.  
  
Instinctively, although shyly, her own tongue met his, encouraged by the sound he made. Her breasts ached and so did the place between her thighs. She opened for him wider, returning his kisses with fervor. Disappointed filled her when Logan suddenly drew back. Her gaze dropped to his wet lips, made shiny by their kiss, and her stomach tightened in remembered pleasure.  
  
His hand went to her face and his thumb stroked her swollen lips. "We need this," he told her, his meaning clear to them both. "Do you understand?"  
  
She did. She didn't need any explanation.  
  
He swiftly took her mouth at the same time turning their bodies until he was lying on top of her and between her legs. His kiss became more passionate and insistent, demanding from her the purest of sensual responses.  
  
Marie wrapped her arms around him, stroking his shoulders, sides and back feverishly. Her palms tingled at the feel of his taut body. He was so warm, so heavy, so undeniably male. She arched her breasts against his chest, seeking more contact with him. Her movement lodged him deeper into the cradle of her thighs, making her feel his arousal keenly--hard and hot. She moaned when his lips left hers to latch onto the lobe of her ear, sucking and breathing hotly. Shivers ran through her as his mouth traveled down her throat to the smooth skin of her shoulders.  
  
Bent over her, Logan divested her of her nightgown and her cotton underwear until she was naked. Her full breasts, slim waist that curved into generous hips, and the curls that shielded her womanhood were all revealed to him and she laid there quivering as he took his fill of the sight of her. She couldn't help the sound that escaped her lips when his large hand engulfed her right breast and gently squeezed. He smoothed his hand over her fullness, rubbing her nipple against his palm. He filled his hands with both breasts, pressing them together and nuzzling his face against the deep cleavage that formed. He kissed her plump flesh and licked the soft undersides, causing her to arch up. Her nipples, standing hard and proud, were begging for some attention and he didn't disappoint them. His hot mouth latched onto one, pulling it deep into his mouth and sucking strongly.  
  
Fire lanced through her loins, making her cry out. She'd never imagined it would feel this good to have his mouth on her. She made a delighted sound when he placed her hands on his chest, letting her feel him. As if he couldn't stand that layer of clothing between them, he jerked off his shirt and drew her hands to him once again. Her fingers tingled as she stroked the springy curls that covered him. She encountered the hard nubs of his nipples and her excitement escalated when he groaned softly and arched at the contact. She rolled them between her fingers and watched in fascination as his face contorted in pleasure. A delicious idea formed in her head. She leaned up on her elbows and rubbed her face against his chest before taking his nipple into her mouth.  
  
He roared at the unexpected caress. He clutched her head to him, loving the way her wet mouth worked on him. He let her play with his nipples until he was so hard with wanting her he was near to bursting. Regretfully, he raised her head and captured her mouth in a deep, all-consuming kiss as he bore her down again. He parted her legs wider with his powerful jean-clad thighs, his hand skimming down her body until it rested against her moist heat. She whimpered in his mouth when his fingers stroked over her, spreading her moisture, then pushed deep into her warm wet channel. His thumb strayed across her throbbing clit, making her buck her hips and driving his fingers deeper into her. He knew she was close, he could feel it in the way her inner muscles were clasping his fingers, but he wanted her to come with him.  
  
"Please..." she begged, needing him to put an end to her torment.  
  
"Not yet. We'll do this together."  
  
Marie could only stare when he pulled back his hand and unbuckled his belt. She swallowed when he was finally revealed to her--long, hard and thick. She moaned out loud when he slipped his cock between the wet folds of her sex and started sliding against her. He felt so large that she felt a moment of alarm she wouldn't be able to take him in.  
  
Her distress must've shown on her face because Logan touched her face and said, "It'll fit, baby." He nudged at her opening, slowly courting her flesh until he broke through her barrier. She was so hot and snug he gritted his teeth at the exquisite sensation.  
  
"All right?" he asked.  
  
She had flinched at the slight pain, but she nodded still. It felt strange being joined to him like that. Wonderfully strange. Wonderfully, sensually strange.  
  
He opened her legs wider and lifted her hips. He moved inside her tentatively, growling at the delightful torment of having her squeeze him tight. He felt her stretching to accommodate him as he pushed until he knew she must be feeling him at the mouth of her womb.  
  
Skin slick with sweat, they moved together in an erotic dance that was as old as time. Marie answered him thrust for thrust, feeling her body expand and contract in sensations she'd never experienced before. She pushed against him, trying to get even closer to him, seeking out that elusive trigger that would launch her to her peak. She gasped when Logan's fingers fondled her, touching her clit and stroking the place where they were joined. He ground his hips into hers, driving against and into her. She sobbed at the pleasure that started building up, helpless as passion consumed her, exploding in sweet, glorious fulfillment. The thought of her finding her pleasure with him and the frantic milking motions of her intimate muscles made him lose control, his harsh groan mingling with her scream as he followed her into ecstasy.  
  
Never had he felt such complete satisfaction. His body was satiated, yes, but overall there was a feeling of serenity and rightness. His heart felt full. His chest heaving from his release, Logan looked down on the sleepy satisfaction on Marie's face. Catching her gaze, he picked up her hand and rubbed it against his chest. Over his heart.  
  
Tears shone in her eyes at his telling action. She slipped her arms around him and sighed when he went willingly into her embrace. The nightmares had been warded off for now, and tomorrow was still a few hours away. They could still enjoy this little bit of comfort. 


End file.
